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Rangers must be ‘bit harder to play against’ after preseason loss to Devils
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- Rangers must be ‘bit harder to play against’ after preseason loss to Devils
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
There were times in the first period of their 3-1 preseason loss Thursday that the New York Rangers appeared to be getting run out of Madison Square Garden by the New Jersey Devils .
Stuck in their own end defending shift after shift, the Rangers barely crossed center ice during that fast-paced opening period, which featured few whistles and almost exclusive puck ownership by the Devils.
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Though the eye test wasn't pretty, the Rangers actually acquitted themselves pretty darn well. Without requiring heroics from goalie Jonathan Quick to save them, the Rangers escaped the first period trailing 1-0. Moreover, despite a brutal 17.09 percent expected goal share, per Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers surrendered just three shots on goal and were only out-chanced 5-4.
They rarely had the puck for any stretch of time and managed only two shots of their own, but the Rangers defended smartly, blocked shots, and weren't caught running around in their own end.
The biggest concern is that the Devils won way too many puck battles.
"We got going the more the game went on. A bit of a slow start," Rangers forward Adm Edstrom said postgame . "I still think we need to play a bit more physical and be a bit harder to play against. … But it's the start of something and gotta keep building on that."
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Edstrom talked the talk and walked the walk. helping the Rangers turn things around in the second period. The 6-foot-7 forward shadowed Devils defenseman Simon Nemec on one shift, and was rewarded for his efforts. Nemec flubbed a clearing attempt, firing the puck off Edstrom's skate near the net and past startled goaltender Jacob Markstrom to tie the score 1-1 at 13:30.
Later in the period, Edstrom swept a Vincent Trocheck pass from between the circles on goal, forcing Markstrom to make a sharp save. The Rangers out-shot the Devils 12-3, and out-chanced them 12-9, in the second. They flipped the script and had a 76.64 percent goal share.
"I thought there were some really positive things to build on and I think there's a lot of opportunity for us to improve and get better," coach Mike Sullivan
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